After losing suffering their first loss of IPL 2025 to RR, Punjab Kings will look to bounce back in the tie against CSK. Shreyas Iyer and co, who were outstanding since the start of the tournament, fell short against the Royals in a fashion that they weren’t accustomed to in this season. Heading into the contest against the five-time champions, PBKS would want to stick to the same playing XI. However, it would be batter if they made a couple of changes.
PBKS predicted playing XI vs CSK
| Position | Player | Role |
| 1. | Priyansh Arya | Batter |
| 2. | Prabhsimran Singh (WK) | Batter |
| 3. | Shreyas Iyer (C) | Batter |
| 4. | Marcus Stoinis ✈️ | All-rounder |
| 5. | Nehal Wadhera | Batter |
| 6. | Azmatullah Omerzai ✈️ | All-rounder |
| 7. | Shashank Singh | Batter |
| 8. | Harpreet Brar | Bowler |
| 9. | Marco Jansen ✈️ | Bowler |
| 10. | Arshdeep Singh | Bowler |
| 11. | Lockie Ferguson ✈️ | Bowler |
Maxwell to be benched?
PBKS’ top-order is pretty much sorted. The likes of Arya, Prabhsimran, Iyer and Wadhera have been consistent. However, it is the Australian duo of Stoinis and Maxwell who have failed to fire so far.
In three innings, Maxwell – fondly called ‘Big Show’ – has scores of 0 and 30. In fact, he was referred to as the “Hailey’s comet” by Manjrekar, indicating that he only performs rarely.
Maxwell could pave way for Afghanistan’s Omarzai in the tie against CSK. He has played only one game so far in IPL 2025, against GT, where he scored 16 runs and registered figures of 0/29 with the ball. Given that he is an al-rounder who can contribute with both bat and ball, PBKS could afford to bench a misfiring Maxwell and field Omarzai instead.
Brar better than Chahal?
Another point of concern for PBKS is Chahal. The veteran spinner has tasted very little success so far in IPL 2025. With figures of 0/34, 1/36 and 0/32, his performance in IPL 2025 has been sub-par.
Instead, the team could opt for Punjab’s own Harpreet Brar in the playing XI. The spinner managed to bag 9 & 7 wickets in 2023 and 2024 respectively, emerging as one of the best PBKS spinners. He is yet to get a game in IPL 2025. While there is no doubt that Chahal is more experienced, the team can afford to try Brar for a game or two.
PBKS squad for IPL 2025
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash
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